PAFA Holds 211th Commencement on May 13

Melvin Edwards to Deliver Commencement Address,
Njideka Akunyili Crosby to Receive Distinguished Alumni Award

PHILADELPHIA (April 28, 2016) -- The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is holding its 211th Commencement exercises on Friday, May 13, 2016 at 3 p.m. in the Historic Landmark Building, 118 North Broad Street, Philadelphia.

PAFA will recognize 91 graduating students, including 18 Certificate program graduates; 19 Bachelor of Fine Arts graduates; 4 BFA/Certificate graduates; 9 Post-Baccalaureate graduates, and 41 Master of Fine Arts graduates.

Melvin Edwards will address the class of 2016 as the Commencement speaker. One of America's pre-eminent contemporary sculptors and a pioneer in the history of African-American art, Edwards' work has been the subject of more than a dozen solo exhibitions including at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Los Angeles County Museum. He is the recipient of awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fulbright Fellowship to Zimbabwe. Edwards' research into Third World visual culture has taken him to Morocco, Brazil, China, Cuba, and Nigeria. Edwards' work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Studio Museum in Harlem; Brooklyn Museum of Art; SFMOMA; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among many others. Edwards taught at Rutgers University from 1972 to 2002. In 2014, he received an Honorary Doctorate from the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston.

Njideka Akunyili Crosby, whose large-scale, multi-layered works reflect contemporary trans-cultural identity, will receive the 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award. Born in Enugu, Nigeria in 1983, she received her Post-Baccalaureate Certificate from PAFA in 2006, and was in the Certificate program from 2006 until 2009. She has participated in major exhibitions including recent solo shows at the Hammer Museum and the Norton Museum of Art, and group shows at the New Museum, SFMOMA, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Nasher Museum of Art, and The Whitney Museum of American Art Billboard Project. Her work is in the collections of major museums including SFMOMA, PAFA, the Studio Museum, and Tate London.

"We are honored to welcome Melvin Edwards to PAFA and thrilled to welcome Njideka Akunyili Crosby back to campus," says Clint Jukkala, Dean of the School of Fine Arts. "Melvin Edwards has been making beautiful and profound sculpture since his first museum exhibition in 1965, and continues to do so today. He is also a distinguished art educator who will no doubt have great words of wisdom to share with our students. A PAFA alumna, Njideka Akunyili Crosby's powerful work and outstanding accomplishments, such as her recent show at the Norton Museum, will provide our graduates with inspiration for what's possible."

Immediately following the Commencement ceremony, the class of 2016 along with friends and family will proceed across Lenfest Plaza to the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building for the opening reception of the 115th Annual Student Exhibition (ASE).

The ASE is one of the most highly anticipated student exhibitions in the country and the longest-running exhibition of its kind. More than 1,000 works of art are on view by PAFA's talented emerging artists in the Certificate, Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts programs.

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Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is America's first school and museum of fine arts. A recipient of the 2005 National Medal of Arts, PAFA is a recognized leader in fine arts education with a world-class permanent collection of American art.